Ron Kind: “providing affordable Medicare prescription drug coverage for our Nation's seniors is one of the most pressing issues…”

“providing affordable Medicare prescription drug coverage for our Nation's seniors is one of the most pressing issues facing our country today. Even though the elderly use the most prescriptions, more than 75 percent of seniors on Medicare lack reliable drug coverage. It is time to modernize Medicare to reflect our current health care delivery system. The use of prescription medications is as important today as the use of hospital beds was in 1965 when Medicare was created. I have heard from a number of seniors in western Wisconsin regarding the problems they have paying for prescription drugs. One woman from Deer Park, Wisconsin, a small town in my district, wrote to me and said: My medication is $135.00 per month. Fortunately my husband is not on any medication. If we both were not working part-time, I guess that we would have to make a choice between food and Medication--does one eat to survive or take the medication for a ``long and happy life''? What is to happen to this couple if the husband falls ill and has high drug costs too? Seniors without prescription drug coverage often pay the highest prices for their medication. Pharmaceutical companies negotiate prices with their most favored customers, such as HMOs, but seniors without drug coverage do not benefit from these negotiations. Not only do my seniors face price discrimination in their hometowns, but also they can go to Canada and get the same medicine for a substantially cheaper price.”